he sold in 1789) and relocated his Dublin operations to the Crow Street playhouse, on the refit of which between fifty and sixty men were employed daily and on which he spent upwards of £12,000. A new roof, at greater height, was constructed; this allowed a revised layout inspired by the arrangements at Covent Garden and Drury Lane and had the effect of giving a light and airy quality to the whole house, throughout which the "utmost luxuriancy of taste" was displayed. At the opening of the refurbished theatre (now called the Theatre Royal) on 18 January 1788, Daly delivered a Prologue, written for the occasion by the dramatist Joseph Atkinson, declaiming, Long have I wish'd this welcome hour to see – What exultation, and what pride to me!'Midst all my struggles and expensive toil, To boast this station in my native soil….On this last stake I risk myself – my all: A bold attempt – by which I rise – or fall.Should I succeed – 'tis due to your applause; And if I fail – 'tis in the public's cause. Trials and tribulations Rivalries Among the seasoned actors who joined Daly when he established his own company at Smock Alley in 1780 was Robert Owenson. According to Owenson's daughter, the novelist Lady Morgan (at whose christening Daly was present), the pair entered into some form of partnership and Owenson acted as Daly's deputy. However, they soon quarrelled and, having terminated the partnership, Owenson took a 99-years lease of the Music Hall in Dublin's Fishamble Street. He reopened this as The City Theatre and staged his first production there in December 1784. On Daly obtaining the Royal patent, Owenson sought to recover from him the investment rendered futile by loss of the City Theatre's licence. The claim was referred to arbitration, resulting in an agreement whereby Daly would pay Owenson £300 annually for ten years conditional upon no paid actor or actress performing at the City Theatre. Owenson afterwards engaged in the wine trade but also acted for Daly. In 1788 Philip Astley was granted a patent under the Dublin Stage Regulation Act to stage performances of horsemanship, musical pieces, dancing, tumbling and pantomime but excluding tragedy, comedy, opera, plays and farce. Daly petitioned the Lord Chancellor to withhold the Great Seal from the grant, claiming that his own patent gave him a monopoly of performance-based entertainment in Dublin. The